Variety Girl
Paramount, 1947, B/W, 93 minutes, ***
Released August, 1947
Practically the entire talent roster of Paramount Pictures lent their services to this all-star musical, made to benefit the Variety Club children's charity. Two young
women with dreams of stardom come to Hollywood and work their way onto the studio's lot, running into such stars as Bob Hope and Bing Crosby, Ray Milland, Alan Ladd, Barbara Stanwyck,
Paulette Godard, Dorothy Lamour, Burt Lancaster, William Holden, Pearl Bailey, Sunny Tufts and even Cecil B. DeMille.
Very entertaining film. Fast-paced and funny! Mary Hatcher is wonderful - too bad she didn't make more films! Don't miss this one!
The film opens with the statement, "This picture is dedicated to Variety Clubs, International 'The Heart of Show Business' which beats constantly in behalf of the under-privileged children
of the world... regardless of race, creed or color."
Produced by: Daniel Dare
Directed by: George Marshall
Assistant Director: George Templeton
Original Screen Play by: Edmund Hartmann, Frank Tashlin, Robert Welch and Monte Brice
Special Puppetoon Sequence by Thornton Hee and William Cottrell
Music Score and Direction: Joseph J. Lilley
Music Associate: Troy Sanders
Music Score for Puppetoon Sequence: Edward Plumb
Songs: "Harmony" by Johnny Burke and James Van Heusen; "Tired" by Allan Roberts and Doris Fisher
New Songs by: Frank Loesser
Musical Numbers Staged by: Billy Daniels and Bernard Pearce
Art Direction: Hans Dreier and Robert Clatworthy
Set Decoration: Sam Comer and Ross Dowd
Stars' Gowns: Edith Head
Production Gowns: Dorothy O'Hara
Chorus Costumes: Waldo Angelo
Makeup Supervision: Wally Westmore
Sound Recording by: Gene Merritt and John Cope
Special Photographic Effects: Gordon Jennings
Puppetoon Sequence in Technicolor Executed by: George Pal
Directors of Photography: Lionel Lindon and Stuart Thompson
Edited by: LeRoy Stone
Cast:
Mary Hatcher [Catherine Brown],
Olga San Juan [Amber La Vonne],
DeForest Kelley [Bob Kirby],
Frank Ferguson [J. R. O'Connell],
Glen Tryon [Bill Farris],
Nella Walker [Mrs. Webster],
Torben Meyer [Andre - Headwaiter at the Brown Derby],
Jack Norton [Busboy - Brown Derby],
Elaine Riley [Cashier],
Charles Victor [Ass't to Mr. O'Connell],
Gus Taute [Ass't to Assistant],
Harry Hayden [Stage Manager - Grauman's Chinese],
Additional Cast:
Janet Thomas [First Girl],
Roberta Jonay [Second Girl],
Wallace Earl [Girl with sheepdog],
Dick Keene [Dog Trainer],
Ann Doran [Hairdresser],
Jerry James [Assistant Director],
Eric Alden [Makeup man],
Lucille Barkley,
Carolyn Butler [Secretaries],
Pinto Colvig [Special Voice Impersonation],
Edgar Dearing [Cop],
Russell Hicks,
Crane Whitley,
Charles Coleman,
Hal K. Dawson,
Eddie Fetherston,
Len Hendry,
Lorin Raker [Men at Steambath],
Sammy Stein [Masseur],
Douglas Regan,
Warren Joslin [Boys],
John Stanley,
Joel Friend,
Al Ruiz [Specialty dancers],
Pat Templeton,
Larry Badagliacca [Boys at Grauman's],
Bob Alden [Autograph Seeker],
Pat Moran [Drunken Tumbling Act],
Willa Pearl Curtis [Sister Jenkins],
Mildred Boyd [Sister Jenkins' Daughter],
Lee Emery,
Marilyn Gray,
Renee Randall [Usherettes],
The Six DeWaynes [Themselves],
Raymond Largay [Director of the Variety Club],
Alma Macrorie [Proprietress],
Duke Johnson [Juggler],
Catherine Craig [Secretary],
As Themselves: Bing Crosby,
Bob Hope,
Gary Cooper,
Ray Milland,
Alan Ladd,
Barbara Stanwyck,
Paulette Goddard,
Dorothy Lamour,
Sonny Tufts,
Joan Caulfield,
William Holden,
Lizabeth Scott,
Burt Lancaster,
Gail Russell,
Diana Lynn,
Sterling Hayden,
Robert Preston,
Veronica Lake,
John Lund,
William Bendix,
Barry Fitzgerald,
Howard Da Silva,
Macdonald Carey,
Cass Daley,
Patric Knowles,
Mona Freeman,
Billy De Wolfe,
William Demarest,
Cecil Kellaway,
Virginia Field,
Richard Webb,
Frank Faylen,
Cecil B. DeMille,
Mitchell Leisen,
Frank Butler,
George Marshall,
Pearl Bailey,
Jim Mulcay,
Mildred Mulcay,
Spike Jones,
Frank Mayo,
Arleen Whelan,
Johnny Coy,
Stanley Clements,
Mikhail Rasumny,
Sally Rawlinson,
Barney Dean,
Mary Edwards,
Virginia Welles,
George Reeves,
Patricia White Barry,
Wanda Hendrix,
Nanette Parks,
Rae Patterson,
Andra Verne,
Roger Dann
Musical Program:
[0:00] Overture (played by Orchestra behind titles);
[0:35] Your Heart Calling Mine (comic number sung by Mary Hatcher with Spike Jones and His Orchestra);
[0:47] Romeow and Julicat (Puppetoon sequence voiced by Mary Hatcher, Pinto Colvig, sound effects men and Chorus);
[1:06] Tallahassee (sung by Alan Ladd, Dorothy Lamour and Chorus);
[1:10] Tired (performed by Pearl Bailey);
[1:15] Tiger Rag (played by Jim and Mildred Mulcay on Harmonica with Bob Hope);
[1:19] He Can Waltz (sung by Mary Hatcher dubbing for Olga San Juan on-screen);
[1:20] He Can Waltz (sung by Mary Hatcher);
[1:27] Harmony (finale production number sung and danced by Bob Hope, Bing Crosby and Company)
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Varsity Show
Warner Bros., 1937, B/W, 80 minutes
Released September, 1937
Nearly five decades before "Footloose," this charming musical, with
choreography by Busby Berkeley, told the story of college students hoping to put on a swing
dance show despite the ban put in place by a persnickety professor. The kids get help from
Broadway producer Dick Powell - because the show must go on! Johnnie Davis, Rosemary Lane,
Ted Healy co-star. Songs include "I'm Dependable," "Pack Up Your Troubles in Your Old Kit
Bag and Smile, Smile, Smile," and more.
The Busby Berkeley Collection Vol. 2 DVD Box Set (shown right) includes this film and
Gold Diggers of 1937,
Hollywood Hotel
and Gold Diggers in Paris.
Produced by: Jack L. Warner
Directed by: William Keighley
Finale Directed by: Busby Berkeley
Screen Play by: Jerry Wald and Richard Macaulay, Sid Herzig and Warren Duff
Music: M. K. Jerome
Musical Director: Fred Waring
Orchestral Arrangements: Virgil Davis, Steve Mougin
Vocal Arrangements: Frank Perkins, Roy Ringwald
Art Direction: Carl Jules Weyl
Gowns: Howard Shoup
Sound: Charles D. Forrest, Oliver Garretson
Director of Photography: Sol Polito
Finale Photography: George Barnes
Film Editing: George Amy
Cast:
Dick Powell [Chuck Daly],
Fred Waring and His Pennsylvanians [Themselves],
Ted Healy [Willy Williams],
Rosemary Lane [Babs Steward],
Priscilla Lane [Betty Bradley],
Walter Catlett [Prof. Sylvester Biddle],
Johnny Davis [Buzz Bolton],
Buck and Bubbles [Themselves],
Sterling Holloway [Trout],
Mabel Todd [Cuddles],
Scotty Bates [Scotty],
George MacFarland [Hap],
Poley McClintock [Poley],
Lee Dixon [Johnny "Rubberlegs" Stevens],
Halliwell Hobbes [Dean J. M. Meredith],
Roy Atwell [Professor Washburn],
Ed Brophy [Curly Barclay],
Ben Welden [Hammer],
Emma Dunn [Ma Smith],
Carole Landis [Dancer in Finale]
Musical Program:
"Old King Cole" (played by Fred Waring and His Pennsylvanians, vocal by Johnny Davis; reprised by Fred Waring and His Pennsylvanians and danced by Priscilla Lane and Lee Dixon; reprised again in finale);
"We're Working Our Way Through College" (sung by Dick Powell, Ted Healy and Chorus);
"I'm Dependable" (played by Fred Waring and His Pennsylvanians, vocal by Fred Waring and Priscilla Lane);
"On With the Dance" (played by Fred Waring and His Pennsylvanians, vocal by Rosemary Lane; reprised by Ford Washington Lee, sung and danced by Chorus; reprised again in finale);
"You've Got Something There" (sung by Dick Powell and Rosemary Lane; later played by Ford Washington Lee on piano and danced by Bubbles; reprised again in finale);
"Have You Got Any Castles, Baby?" (sung by Priscilla Lane and Chorus);
"Pack Up Your Troubles In Your Old Kit Bag and Smile, Smile, Smile!" (played by Fred Waring and His Pennsylvanians);
"Love Is On The Air Tonight" (sung by The Company in the finale);
"Boola Boola" /
"On, Wisconsin!" /
"Fight On" /
"The Notre Dame Victory March" /
"The Maine Stein Song" /
"Come Join the Band" /
"On, Brave Old Army Team" /
"Navy Marching Song (Anchors Aweigh)" (college fight song medley played and sung by Fred Waring and His Pennsylvanians in finale)
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Victor / Victoria
MGM, 1982, Color, 133 minutes, ***½
Released March, 1982
A man impersonating a woman on stage? Piece of cake. But a woman whose
livelihood depends on pretending to be a man who pretends to be a woman? Now you've got
problems! You've also got laughs when Julie Andrews plays Victor and Victoria in
this clever delight from filmmaker Blake Edwards boasting a marvelous Academy Award-winning
score by Henry Mancini and Leslie Bricusse.
Robert Preston plays a cabaret performer who devises the gender-bender stage act. Farcically
complicating matters are James Garner as a mobster suspecting Victor is a Victoria and
Lesley Ann Warren as a short-fused floozy. Of this movie's seven Oscar nominations, three
went to Golden Globe Winner Andrews (Actress). National Board of Review Award Winner Preston
(Supporting Actor) and Warren (Supporting Actress). [from back of DVD
case]
Produced by: Blake Edwards and Tony Adams
Associate Producers: Gerald T. Nutting, Buckhantz-NMC Co., Inc.
Directed by: Blake Edwards
Screenplay by: Blake Edwards
Based on the 1933 UFA-Film "Viktor und Viktoria" conceived by Hans Hoemburg, written and directed by Rheinhöld Schuenzel)
Original Music by: Henry Mancini
Songs: Lyrics by Leslie Bricusse, Music by Henry Mancini
Production Orchestrations: Howard Blake
Choreograper: Paddy Stone
Assistant Choreographer: Maggie Goodwin
Production Designer: Rodger Maus
Art Directors: Tim Hutchinson and William Craig Smith
Set Decorator: Harry Cordwell
Costume Designer: Patricia Norris
Wardrobe Supervisor: Tiny Nicholls
Makeup Artists: Harry Frampton, Paul Engelen, Peter Frampton
Chief Hairdresser: Bobbie Smith
Hairdressers: Colin Jamison, Joyce James
Miss Andrews' Hair by: John Isaacs of Michaeljohn
Sound Engineer: George Rice
Special Effects: Albert Whitlock
Director of Photography: Dick Bush
Processed by Technicolor, Prints in Metrocolor
Filmed in Panavision
Editor: Alan Killick
Made by Peerford Limited in association with Artista Management A.G. at Pinewood Studios, Iver, Bucks, England
Setting: Paris, 1934
Awards:  Best Music, Original Song Score and Its Adaptation or Best Adaptation Score (Henry Mancini and Leslie Bricusse);
Academy Award Nominations for Best Actress in a Leading Role (Julie Andrews);
Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Robert Preston),
Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Lesley Ann Warren),
Best Art Direction / Set Decoration (Rodger Maus, Tim Hutchinson, William Craig Smith, Harry Cordwell),
Best Costume Design (Patricia Norris),
Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium (Blake Edwards)
Cast:
Julie Andrews [Count Victor Grezhinski / Victoria Grant],
James Garner [King Marchand],
Robert Preston [Carroll Todd],
Lesley Ann Warren [Norma Cassady],
Alex Karras [Squash Bernstein],
John Rhys-Davies [Andre Cassell],
Graham Stark [Waiter],
Peter Arne [Labisse, Che Lui Nightclub Owner],
Sherloque Tanney [Charles Bovin, Private Investigator],
Michael Robbins [Hotel Manager],
Norman Chancer [Sal Andratti],
David Gant [Restaurant Manager],
Maria Charles [Madame President],
Malcolm Jamieson [Richard DiNardo],
John Cassady [Juke],
Mike Tezcan [Clam],
Christopher Good [Stage Manager],
Matyelock Gibbs [Cassell's Receptionist],
Jay Benedict [Guy Langois],
Olivier Pierre [Langois' Companion],
Martin Rayner [Concierge],
George Silver [Fat Man Eating an Eclair],
Joanna Dickens [Large Lady in Restaurant],
Terence Skelton [Deviant Husband],
Ina Skriver [Simone Kallisto],
Stuart Turton [Boyfriend to Actress],
Geoffrey Beevers [Police Inspector],
Sam Williams [Chorus Boy],
Simon Chandler [Chorus Boy],
Neil Cunningham [Nightclub M.C.],
Vivienne Chandler [Chambermaid],
Bill Monks [Leclou],
Perry Davey [Balancing Man],
Elizabeth Vaughan [Opera Singer],
Paddy Ward [Photographer],
Tim Stern [Desk Clerk Third Rate Hotel]
Musical Program:
[0:00] Main Title ("Crazy World") (played by Orchestra behind titles);
[0:03] Cherry Ripe (sung by Julie Andrews);
[0:10] Gay Paree (sung by Robert Preston);
[0:39] King's Can Can (played by Orchestra, danced by Chorus Girls);
[0:40] Le Jazz Hot (sung and danced by Julie Andrews and Chorus);
[1:01] The Shady Dame from Seville (sung by Julie Andrews, danced by Andrews and Chorus);
[1:18] Chicago, Illinois (sung and danced by Lesley Ann Warren and Girls Chorus);
[1:26] Two-Faced Dance (played by Orchestra, danced by Chorus);
[1:29] You and Me (sung and danced by Robert Preston and Julie Andrews);
[1:45] Crazy World (sung by Julie Andrews);
[1:49] short excerpt from MADAME BUTTERFLY (sung by Elizabeth Vaughan);
[2:03] King's Can Can (played by Orchestra, danced by Chorus Girls);
[2:04] The Shady Dame from Seville (comical rendition sung by Robert Preston, danced by Preston and Chorus - great!);
[2:09] Finale (The Shady Dame from Seville / Le Jazz Hot / Crazy World / You And Me) (instrumental reprisals played by Orchestra behind end credits)
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Viva Las Vegas
MGM, 1964, Color, 86 minutes, ***
Released March, 1964 (Sweden)
Released May, 1964 (USA)
In one of his biggest and best films, Elvis Presley is "just a devil with love to spare" as a race car driver looking to enter the Las Vegas Grand Prix and romancing sexy Ann-Margret.
With Cesare Danova, William Demarest and the great Jack Carter as himself. Songs include "The Lady Loves Me," "What'd I Say" and the title tune.
Produced by: Jack Cummings and George Sidney
Directed by: George Sidney
Assistant Director: Milton Feldman
Written by: Sally Benson
Editor: John McSweeney Jr.
Music: George Stoll
"Folies Bergere" Sequence by Arrangement With Hotel Tropicana, Las Vegas
Choreographer: David Winters
Art Direction: George W. Davis and Edward Carfagno
Set Decoration: Henry Grace, George R. Nelson
Costumes Designed by: Don Feld
Hair Styles by: Sydney Guilaroff
Make-Up Supervision: William Tuttle
Recording Supervisor: Franklin Milton
Director of Photography: Joseph Biroc
In Panavision and Metrocolor
Film Editor: John McSweeney
Cast:
Elvis Presley [Lucky Jackson],
Ann-Margret [Rusty Martin],
Cesare Danova [Count Elmo Mancini],
William Demarest [Mr. Martin],
Nicky Blair [Shorty Farnsworth],
Jack Carter [Himself],
Robert B. Williams [Swanson],
Bob Nash [Big Gus Olson],
Roy Engel [Baker],
Barnaby Hale [Mechanic],
Ford Dunhill [Driver],
Eddie Quillan [Master of Ceremonies],
George Cisar [Manager],
Ivan Triesault [Head Captain],
Francis Ravel [Francois],
Mike Ragan (aka Holly Bane) [Man],
The Jordanaires [backup vocals]
Musical Program:
[0:00] Viva Las Vegas (sung behind titles by Elvis Presley and The Jordanaires);
[0:10] You Stepped Out of a Dream (instrumental danced by Las Vegas Showgirls);
[0:11] showtune medley (instrumental danced by Las Vegas Showgirls);
[0:15] Yellow Rose of Texas / The Eyes of Texas (adapted with special lyrics, sung by Elvis Presley and Ensemble);
[0:18] The Lady Loves Me (sung by Elvis Presley and Ann-Margret);
[0:25] unidentified instrumental (danced by Ann-Margret and Mens Chorus);
[0:27] C'mon Everybody (sung by Elvis Presley and The Jordanaires, danced by Elvis and Ann-Margret);
[0:36] Today, Tomorrow and Forever (sung by Elvis Presley, joined by The Jordanaires);
[0:37] The Climb (sung by The Forte Four, danced by Elvis Presley, Ann-Margaret and Ensemble);
[0:39] What'd I Say (sung and danced by Elvis Presley, Ann-Margaret and Ensemble);
[0:52] Santa Lucia (sung by Elvis Presley);
[0:53] If You Think I Don't Need You (sung by Elvis Presley);
[0:55] That's Entertainment (instrumental background music for plate-spinning act);
[0:55] Appreciation (sung by Ann-Margret, danced by Ann-Margret and Mens Chorus);
[1:00] Viva Las Vegas (sung by Elvis Presley and The Jordanaires, danced by Elvis and Showgirls);
[1:05] I Need Somebody to Lean On (sung by Elvis Presley);
[1:11] My Rival (sung by Ann-Margret)
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and the operetta "The Vagabond King" by William H. Post, Rudolf Friml and Brian Hooker)
